Chuxiong City

Chuxiong 楚雄市
County-level city
A giant pagoda after sun set in Chuxiong
Chuxiong Location in Yunnan
Coordinates: 25°02′44″N 101°31′41″E / 25.04556°N 101.52806°E / 25.04556; 101.52806Coordinates: 25°02′44″N 101°31′41″E / 25.04556°N 101.52806°E / 25.04556; 101.52806
Country	People's Republic of China
Province	Yunnan
Prefecture	Chuxiong
Area
• Total	4,482 km2 (1,731 sq mi)
Elevation	1,779 m (5,837 ft)
Population
• Total	480,000
• Density	110/km2 (280/sq mi)
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)
Postal code	675000
Area code(s)	0878
Website	http://www.cxs.gov.cn/

Chuxiong City (Chinese: 楚雄市; pinyin: Chǔxióng Shì) is a county-level city and the seat of the Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, in central Yunnan province, People's Republic of China.

Chuxiong is about 127 kilometres (79 mi) west of Yunnan's capital of Kunming on highway GZ65. Chuxiong City is nestled between mountain ranges on all sides in a plateau region at 5,800 feet (1,800 m). Chuxiong City has a population of 130,000 inhabitants, and the entire Chuxiong Prefecture has an estimated 2,542,530 inhabitants.

Chuxiong is the first stop from Kunming on the way to Dali and Lijiang. Dali is 180 kilometres (110 mi) northwest of Chuxiong, or about a 2.5 hour drive on GZ65. Lijiang is about 6 hours from Chuxiong, and Lugu Lake is about 11 hours north, on the Sichuan border.

As with much of the province, Chuxiong experiences a mild subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cwb). Winters are mild and very dry and sunny, although average lows in January are barely above the freezing mark; December and January both have a 24-hour average temperature of 8.7 °C (47.7 °F). Spring begins early and remains dry and sunny until late May, when there is a dramatic uptick in frequency and amount of rainfall that lasts until late September. Summers are warm, rainy and generally overcast, with June, the warmest month, averaging 21.4 °C (70.5 °F). Autumn sees an abrupt reduction in rainfall and return to sunniness. The annual mean temperature is 16.00 °C (60.8 °F), while precipitation averages 863 mm (34.0 in), more than 70% of which occurs from June to September. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 28% in July to 70% in February, the city receives 2,177 hours of bright sunshine annually.